When a Place Steals Your Heart

When a place steals your heart, you don’t know how it happened. Was it the time a student chose to give YOU a stuffed Hello Kitty doll out of the 600+ students and 30+ teachers he could have chosen from? Was it the time a 15 year old boy sat on the floor and dumped out the candy jar looking for his favorites, and you realized it was the first time in his life he had the opportunity to do that? Was it the chorus of Good Mornings as you walk through school morning, noon and night? Was it the teacher across the road who taught you to make so many Thai dishes? Was it the countless bike rides to the bridge you just can’t understand how it got to be the way it is now? Was it the students singing Jesus Loves me and I’ve Got the Joy? What was it? What makes it so you can’t imagine living anywhere else? What makes it so even while you are visiting the home you were born in, you miss this home? What is it that makes you feel responsible? Responsible for the lives of the students. Responsible for them staying in school. Responsible for helping to build a building.  Responsible for building and maintaining relationships with them. Responsible for teaching them manners. Responsible for making sure they are fed. Responsible for loving them unconditionally.
I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. But I can tell you what I do know. I am privileged. I am privileged to have been born where I was. To receive the education I received. To be born into the family I was born in. To attend the schools and university that I attended. I am privileged that I had wonderful ministers and youth pastors. I am privileged that I had friends who helped shape me into who I am. I am privileged that God called me. Little me to do His work in Thailand. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like a privilege. Sometimes it feels like a burden. Now is one of those times, I feel burdened to help find scholarships so ten students can continue studying this year, and more the next year, and the year after that. I feel burdened to help build a new building so that the reality of extending through ninth grade can come to fruition. This is where I need to realize my privilege and burden need to come together as one. I am educated. I have friends and family who are educated. I have friends and family who have means to give beyond what I even know they are capable of. I must bring the privilege of my birth together with the burden of helping this place that has stolen my heart. I can’t do this on my own. I must seek His strength and guidance as I ask, and seek people to help. I must pray for the hearts of others to be opened to give, to help, to pray with us. That this dream of opening 7^th-9^th grade at the school, of having a new building, of having some of our best students be able to stay with us here, might be fulfilled through you.

While I don’t know what it is that made it so this place stole my heart, I do know that God puts each of us where we are for a reason. I am here, maybe, just maybe so that I can tell you of an opportunity to help students receive a Christian education on the other side of the world. Over the next weeks and months, there are many projects that I anticipate will come to fruition. I ask that you will continue to check back, to pray, and seek after how you might take part in changing the lives of these angels (and monsters) that have stolen my heart.

Day 7: The Big One!!!

Day 7 The Big One: Sponsor a Classroom for our New Building

Here’s the big one. The one I’ve been praying about for over a year and still don’t know what to do. The one that started this week long project. The one that I’m almost afraid to ask for because I know most of you can’t afford it. However, I have to trust and pray that maybe just maybe someone may read this and know of someone who does have the means and the desire to help with a project like this. So, that being said let me explain what this project is, and the urgency of finding funding for it.

The school is currently trying to apply to extend through ninth grade. This would give us an opportunity to minister to them for an extra 3 years when they are at a very impressionable age, and would be likely to make a decision for or against Christ. This would literally change many of their lives. However, the government is hesitating because we don’t have enough classrooms, and I’m hesitating to ask for money until we have a for sure ok so that people back home don’t think that I lied. So, I had to come to the decision that I need to ask for so that the new building can help the extension be approved, and if it isn’t that we will still need more classrooms in the future, as some of the current buildings are over 30 years old.

At the school so far, they have a lot of one story buildings that have 3 or 4 classrooms in them. If they continue building like this, they will run out of land and places to build. So, the plan this time is for a 2-story, eight classroom building. This would have 2 classes for each grade 7-9, a teachers room, and the other room would be designated for one subject to use for example, science, computers, etc… The cost of this building they have estimated to be 2 million Baht, or around $200,000.

They have already raised over $20,000 for the project so far, and are looking for the rest from alumni, local people, churches in Thailand, and internationally. Proposals have been sent to Singapore, Korea, and a few other countries, and now I’m sending this to you, my friends and family back home in hopes that you can help find people to donate.

Here’s my ideas for how to donate.

First it would be really great if someone heard of the project and knew of someone who was interested in funding all, or a large portion of the project. That would be the biggest blessing, but also the least likely to happen. So, I’ve come up with some other ideas.

The second is that maybe you know of someone that could sponsor one classroom. If we have an 8 room building and it is $200,000 to build, sponsoring one classroom would be $25,000. We already almost have one classrooms worth, so if 7 more people or organizations could each sponsor one room, we would be able to work together to get the building built. If this were the case I would make sure that your name or organization had a plaque or something recognizing the donation of the classroom.

I remember back to the days as a child when they would have PBS fund drives, or fund drives on the radio stations. You know where one person promises to give a big donation if so many others will give a smaller one. This is something I would like to find people back home to challenge the school here. I’m sure it won’t be an even match, and probably not even close, but something that will motivate the school and others here to donate or find donations. You know maybe you or someone you know can give $5,000 if they give 50,000 Baht. It’s really up to you and what challenge you would like to place before the people. I think this could be an effective way to get the community involved as well as partner with people overseas.

I’ll be honest, this is a big project, as are all of the ones over the past week. It’s hard to ask for money because many people won’t respond, and maybe no one will respond at all. Many people will think its someone else’s job to help, and will continue to go on with their lives. I’m praying however, that the right people will read these messages and be interested. That you will talk to your friends and family and brainstorm ways to help. As I’m typing this today I’m watching as children are out playing and enjoying life on a Saturday morning. These children and this place have blessed my life, they’ve taught me about so much in life, that love and happiness doesn’t come from money or material things, they’ve showed me love that I didn’t earn or deserve. I’ve spent close to two years here getting to know them and learning from them. I’ve prayed and feel like God is calling me here for the time being and into the future. As part of that decision, I’ve also decided its ok to start asking for help for them. At first I didn’t want to be seen as a funding source. One thing that I have to teach them is that I can’t magically get funding for every project every time, but I can make projects known to people back home and pray that they will accept the challenge.

I’m planning on coming home in October through the beginning of January. I haven’t been home for Christmas since 2010, and I look forward to spending the holidays with family and friends. However, I will also be looking for funding and support for projects. Maybe it will be these same ones, maybe I’ll have new opportunities back then. The goal of this Christmas in July project was to make the needs known, to invite you to pray and begin thinking of your involvement in these various projects. If you aren’t sure, or would like more information, please contact me. I would love to chat and see what God is putting on your heart to do for this community.

God Bless You!!!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 6: Local Churches

Day 6 Support a Local Church

At the last retreat for the program that I’m in (Christian Volunteers in Thailand:  CVT), we were talking about intentional Christian community. We were asked to each commit to one area in our lives as volunteers to try to intentionally be Christian. Over the year and a half I’ve been here I’ve been involved in many things, devotions before school each day, Karen bible studies on Saturday nights, church on Sunday mornings, and bible study with the foreigners living here each Sunday evening.

As they went around and shared what each of the other volunteers was going to do in their communities, I kept thinking yup, already doing that… To the point that I had to start thinking outside of the box to find something to commit to doing before the next retreat. I also knew my schedule, and didn’t want to commit to something too big that I wouldn’t be able to do. So, as I sat there and thought about it, I remembered the teacher who had just retired. His house is in an outskirt village, and there is a small outreach church nearby that he has been asking me to attend since I got here. So, I made my commitment to visit that church at least once before our next retreat. I have since then visited it once and have been to another one that is a Burmese church. There are several churches like this, usually made of bamboo, sometimes with a cement floor and partial cement wall. Very small, with less than twenty people in attendance at any given time. I have been to four of them now, and there are several others I haven’t been to yet. These churches are on my heart because they are local people trying to reach out to their unbelieving neighbors. Some of them have just a few who are actually Christians attending.

My idea for helping out these small churches would be in small donations/grants. I’m not sure what individual projects they may have at this time, but a donation of $500 or $1,000 would be a huge blessing to them. They could fix something in the church, add a proper roof, get a sound system, etc… Once I know there is a donation available and the amount, I will look into asking the local pastors that look after the churches and go through the process of finding something that is an urgent need in one of these other churches.

If you’re wondering why I mentioned a sound system, here’s why. I once attended one of these churches that had a tin roof, a cement floor, three cement block high walls, and the rest was chicken wire. Partway through it started pouring, nothing could be heard at all, so they had the person who was supposed to pray pray as I guess they decided it didn’t matter as much if the rest of us heard the prayer or not because God would. So, imagine what a speaker and a microphone would do for these small churches in the middle of the rainy season… I’m looking for donations to purchase what we would consider small things, but what to them are huge. Some of them I’m sure have an offering of less than $10 per week. So, some of these things would seem impossible for them to buy on their own.

Day 5 Donate Books

Day 5 Donate Books or Money to Buy Books

This one is a little tricky due to weight restrictions when flying and the price of shipping. However, I want to throw this out there as well. When teaching children, the beginning readers from back home are perfect. You know, the ones that have less than 50, 100, 200 words, etc… Or that focus on a letter sound or ending. They are often funny at a child’s level of humor, and with a little explaining/translating my students can understand the humor. I have a book basket at my house that they are free to look through when they come over, and I often take books when I teach Saturday morning tutoring, and when they fit in with my lessons. If you have some of these books lying around that you no longer use, or are a teacher that has extra book order points to use maybe you could think of my students. If you have books to donate, please let me know so that I don’t “accept” too many that I can’t bring them all back in my suitcase. I love reading, and want to instill this love in the students here.
If you don’t have any books and are going out to buy them, a better option might be to make a donation and let me buy them here. There are several bookstores in Bangkok where you can get easy readers that have been imported, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about packing space, or shipping costs. There are also some chapter books that have the more difficult words written in Thai on the side, which hopefully the students will be able to read in the future and I would love to get some available now.

Day 4: Help Out a Children's Home

Day 4 Help Out a Children’s Home

This is one that has been on my heart for a while. There is one children’s home in the area that breaks my heart. The students often come to school with dirty clothes, many don’t wear shoes. I’m not sure if it is because they don’t have them, they don’t take care of them, or if they don’t like to wear them, but I am often saddened to see the state of their clothes and appearance.

We visited there once to have a bible study and encourage the children, and when we got there the older ones were feeding the younger ones. What they were eating that day was mainly rice fried with a little bit of egg. I’m not sure if that is what they were having that day, or if the food is like that all of the time. I don’t think they are starving, but I think what they are being fed has little nutrition for growing children, and in turn they have a hard time concentrating at school and learning. However, many of them are bright and do very good in school. It saddens me to know that they might not have the chance to go on to study, so in the future that might be another project…

I also think they rarely get treats, and don’t have money to buy them. So, some of the children resort to stealing. I have heard that some of them have stolen from nearby shops, and teachers bags/purses. I was a victim myself last year when two girls went into the office, to my desk, then went through my bag until they found where I kept my money, then stole the less than $5 that was in there, and my house keys. Let’s just say I learned my lesson and now keep my keys and money on me at all times, but I imagine it is the lack of treats and opportunities to have them like other children that has led them to this lifestyle.

I’m not sure what I’m asking for exactly in this post. Last I knew there were about 70 children in the homes two locations. If people are interested in helping out, I am sure I could find someone to buy meat and vegetables and deliver them to the home. This could be any amount, if you buy vegetables in season you can often get them for 15 Baht per kilo, think 50 cents per kilo or about 25 cents per pound. Others are more expensive, but still cheaper than they would be back home, and definitely fresher. Pork is often I think around 130 Baht per kilo, or about $2 a pound.

Do you just want to find a way to give the children a treat. For around $5 I can buy what they call a “beep” of snacks. It is a metal container that has cookies, crackers, wafers, or wafer straws in it. One of those would give everyone in the home a nice handful as a treat.

This in my mind isn’t the most important project I’m writing about, but it is an idea and something that has been on my mind for a while, so I want to take the opportunity to make people back home aware of it in case you are looking for something along these lines to help out with. So, please pray about if God is leading you to help with this home, if so, please let me know and we can brainstorm ways to help further. If not, thank you for reading this, and please be praying for this home, as well as the other areas in the community I have written about so far, and the ones over the next few days.

God Bless You

Day 3: Paint, Playground, Desks, Reading Corner, etc...

Day 3 Help Provide Paint for Playground, Hopping Games, Desks, etc…

About a month ago the director of the school came up to me and asked if I had ever heard of BBL(Brain Based Learning). I said that I wasn’t really sure as I’d learned of many different teaching techniques in college, and asked him to explain what BBL was. A few weeks later we had a weeklong meeting after school where we watched 8 videos that had been recorded as a teleconference all across Thailand to introduce first grade teachers to BBL. After the director and first grade teachers went to the teleconference, it had been decided that our school would begin teaching using BBL, beginning with the meeting to learn what it was. At the break the second day I talked to the director and said “I know why I had never heard of BBL before, because that is the system of learning I grew up in and learned in college.” To sum it up for you quickly, the main points are to have a playground and have students play at least 20 minutes per day, 3 times per week. Inviting classrooms, painted desks, bulletin boards, student work displayed around the room, etc… Teaching materials, things as simple as using cups to say chants and tap to help them remember things, using counting ducks(I used bears as a child), etc… Things that students can interact with instead of just writing on the board and lecturing. There were two more, but my notes aren’t with me now, and what I want to ask for help with has already been mentioned.

Basically, Thailand is just catching up with interactive learning. There is a big push by the education department to get this started, and my school is jumping on board. However, many of them have costs attached that we are working on raising, and you just might decide you want to help out with one of them. So, here they are

-      Paint for the playground. In the videos they made playgrounds out of old tires. Car tires half buried became stepping stones, or placed farther apart, obstacles to run zig-zag through. They also became steps to climb up one side with a slide on the other. Bike tires became jungle gyms and swings. We have many tires donated already, but wouldn’t it be more fun to play on if they were bright colored? That’s what the video said J

-      This one I’ll write paint for Hopping Games. In the video and on the internet they’ve found many different designs of things to paint on the ground that children can interact with. From hopscotch, to feet painted on either side of a line that they have to follow, to a cluster of circles in 3 colors that you have to jump from one side to the other on just your color, to letter and number practice, etc… The possibilities are endless of what could be made, right now it is only limited by the lack of paint to create them with.

-      Painting desks, the video also shared that different types of students learn best if their desks are painted different colors. I forget what they all mean, but the colors are green, yellow, blue, and pink. Most of the classrooms at the school have old wooden desks that have seen better days. One fifth grade class has gotten funding to paint their desks already, and what a difference it makes. Going from dark stained wood to colors brightens up the room quick, plus I’m hoping it will stop the carving/writing on the desks as they were the ones to help out doing the prepping and painting. Only time will tell if it actually helps them pay attention better, but I’m hoping it will. There are still 12 other classrooms that have desks that could use some TLC J

-      Classroom supplies. I’ve debated putting this one on here as its something I think they can do on their own, but who knows, maybe someone is interested in this. In the video they had a list of things that if you bought once you could use for a long time. For example, using wooden or plastic eggs and egg cartons, sticking a word on each egg, then having students sort them by what vowel sound was in the word. Once the eggs are purchased, they can be used for so many activities. They also showed how to use ping pong balls, spoons and forks, paper cups, paper plates, counting ducks, etc… If I remember right to buy the shelves and the recommended materials it would be less than $50 per set. It would then be up to the teachers to come up with the activities and use them. This should be something teachers could buy on their own, but who knows, maybe someone wants to help provide a few sets for teachers that are motivated to use them.

-      I remember another thing they mentioned, a reading corner in every room. Growing up, I LOVED the reading corner at school. You know, you finished your work and were allowed to quietly go to the reading corner and read while waiting for your friends to finish. Thais don’t really have books in the classroom, let alone a reading corner. Imagine donating money to buy a mat/chairs, bookshelf, basket for books, money to buy books, etc… You could suggest what to buy, let me suggest what to buy, or give a grant for a teacher to buy things on their own. I imagine even $100 would be able to create a simple reading corner of a mat, a basket, and depending on the type of books, up to 50 Thai books (this could be a really bad guess, it might be more like 20-30. I don’t really know) I’ve seen some classrooms have boxes that the student’s milk comes in with a blanket on top, I imagine this is what they are using as a reading corner. I’ll have to check on that and prices if anyone is interested in this project.

Day 2: Sponsor a Child

Day 2 Sponsor a Child

I’m putting this as the first request because I think it is fairly simple and not out of reach of what most people can do. It will also potentially have a great impact on the lives of the students and on the school. Before I go into more details, I want to clarify that this will be an unofficial sponsorship. It won’t be tax deductible, and will just be me taking your donation, finding a child, and matching you. I will try my hardest to send pics and updates of your child, but you might have to send e-mails/facebook me to remind me to do so.

The last I heard sponsoring a child was either $35 or $38 per month for the year. The good news is that this will be much less and the impact will be about the same. My school has students sponsored by several child sponsorship programs, and I think they are great. The students often show me letters and pictures they’ve received from their “parents” and are super excited to receive news from their sponsors. The two main ones have their students meet every Saturday for tutoring, a snack, and a bible lesson. They also receive part or all of their school fees, and the one provides an umbrella in the rainy season and a new uniform once a year, as well as other things.

That being said, here is my dream for my unofficial sponsorship program. Those programs often have rules that limit one child per household or a partial sponsorship for each additional child. So, I’ve often seen siblings that go to the government school because only one child can get the sponsorship to come to this school. I would like to be able to provide the tuition, and one uniform (as well as other things if the money is available) to siblings and other children who currently aren’t able to attend this school. Tuition currently is 2200 Baht or about $75(depending on the exchange rate). So, my dream is to have people sponsor a child for $100 per year (I could go on and on about where you can find $100/year, maybe one less night of vacation(hotels are expensive), don’t know what to ask for for Christmas? Ask to sponsor a child in your name. Seriously, if you break it down over one year, it is just over $8 per month. Really, there are a lot of ways to find $8 per month, be creative J ). This wouldn’t provide much more than tuition, a uniform, and a few other expenses, but for these children, it would be enough that their family could afford to let them come to the Christian School instead of the government school. The only real cost difference between the two is the cost of tuition. Not only would they be receiving a better education than at the government schools, they would more importantly be receiving a Christian Education.

My main goal in this is to bring students into the school who currently don’t have the opportunity to attend. This would also help to increase the number of students at the school, which would increase the budget the school receives from the government.

Could you sponsor a student for one year? Yes!

Can you sponsor them until they finish at our school? Definitely!

Can you write them a letter/e-mail/send pics? That’s actually encouraged!

Could you send extra money for a birthday or to help the family? Of course!

Could you ask for someone to sponsor a child in your name in place of a Christmas present? I don’t see why not J

Is this an experiment? Yes!

Do I know how it will turn out? No!

Will it impact the lives of children? Yup!

Have I been praying about this? You know it!

Should you be praying about it? I think so!

Are you allowed to tell friends and family? Please do!

What should you do next? Pray, then send me a message(e-mail or facebook) and we can make arrangements if you feel called to help with this project. Sponsorships would start at the beginning of the next school year (May 2016). Yes, I know it’s a long time, but if we want to get students who otherwise wouldn’t receive the opportunity to study here we have to start at the beginning of the year. Plus, I’ll need time to find children who aren’t currently attending the school, and make arrangements for them to attend.